Editorial: Mauger leaves a hole on Board of Selectmen

Sunday

Jul 13, 2014 at 11:16 AM

Board of Selectmen Chairman Deb Maugerís resignation announcement last week caught us by surprise. We so infrequently hear of public officeholders willingly forfeiting their seat, and with it the opportunity to lead and affect change in the community.We wish Mauger well in her new opportunity, whatever that may be, and will miss her efficient, all-business approach to leading selectmen meetings. If you havenít had the pleasure of watching Mauger deftly recite instructions for how to use the microphones or throw the hammer down on speakers who have reached the end of their allotted time, call up some past selectmen meetings on LexMedia and watch. Mauger managed well the fine line between allowing time for thoughtful discussion of issues while avoiding the long, rambling and sometimes aimless conversations weíve seen in too many board meetings.Maugerís resignation leaves the town in need of a special election to fill the seat. The act approved by the state in 1969 establishing the selectmen-town manager form of government in Lexington states a special election must be called because it is more than 100 days until the next annual election.The person who is elected to finish Maugerís term, which expires in March 2016, will serve more than 14 months in the role, so voters and candidates should take this special election seriously.This leaves to the remaining selectmen the question of when should this election be held. Selectmen will have to consider how much time residents should have to weigh their options and decide to run. Once that decision is made, how long is long enough to campaign on issues and encourage voters to get to the polls? Candidates and voters both are notoriously difficult to come by for special elections.If selectmen pick the special election date during the boardís next meeting, which is Monday, the earliest the election can be held under state law would be Sept. 16, or 64 days after the election is announced. That means Lexingtonís special election cannot be scheduled to coincide with the state primary election on Sept. 9.Does it make sense to hold off another two months and schedule the town election simultaneously with the general state election scheduled for Nov. 4? We think the answer is yes.We have confidence in the sitting selectmen to fully vet the issues before the board as well as to listen to the members of public that speak before them. Even if an issue arises for which one of the selectmen must recuse himself then we trust the other selectmen to decide in the best interest of the town.The other choice would be to add to voter fatigue by scheduling a third election in a 10-week time frame, and to assume that residents will be able to sufficiently learn about the candidates during the summer and first days of school.Voters deserve the extra 10 weeks to make the best decision possible for their town. We hope the selectmen will schedule the special election for Nov. 4, and make that announcement as soon as possible.